Arts

The Melbourne International Comedy Festival is bringing the best comedians from around the world to Melbourne from 28 March to 22 April,  just for your laughing pleasure and without the inconvenience of having to calculate your duty free allowance. With a couple of weeks until the festival kicks off, we’ve wrapped up nine shows guaranteed…

Carclew has been a youth arts hub for young adults for many years and offers a range of opportunities for the under 26. The #nofilter Fair and open day was a way to showcase some of the arts on offer, including visual arts and music with Emma Rowe releasing a new single and video. Headspace…

  As an aspirational concept, Placemaking is a multi-faceted approach to the planning, design and management of public spaces. The Placemaking process capitalises on a local community’s assets, inspiration, and potential, and results in the creation of authentic, vibrant and resilient places that are valued by their communities and admired by visitors. In practice, councils…

The Naked Magicians are just exactly as you would expect – two guys who strip down and perform magic tricks to a mostly female audience. This is no place for a guy’s night out, but there are probably plenty of “girl’s nights” in the audience. Endlessly touring Australia, the pair just wrapped up a run…

In its sixth year, All About Women celebrates International Women’s Day (March 8) with a line-up of inspiring and empowering discussions around the universal struggle for equality in a world still dominated by the white, privileged patriarchy. While I could have easily gone to every talk on offer, it wold have been physically impossible given…

Molly Dean, artist’s muse and aspiring journalist, was brutally murdered in Melbourne in 1930. Despite compelling evidence her killer was never officially found. Seventy years later, art dealer Alex Clayton discovers what she believes to be a portrait of Molly and delves headfirst into the mystery. Despite cover-ups, missing records, and suspects long since deceased,…

For hundreds of years, Bulgarian Gypsies trained bears to perform. In the early 2000’s the practice was outlawed following the fall of communism, and the bears, who had only ever known their human family, were released into a reserve. Even now, years later, the bears still stand on their hind legs to dance whenever they…

Recovering from a major surgery that took away his ability to speak, Sam is a young boy without a voice. So when his Aunt Dettie packs up Sam, and his sister Katie, and sets out to drive from Sydney to Perth, Sam is unable to protest. Promised that their estranged father is waiting for them…

South by Southwest (SXSW) have announced the initial line up for the SXSW Comedy Festival, kicking of 9 to 18 March 2018. The festival will pull guests from all corners of the entertainment industry and showcase film and media icons alongside the next wave of groundbreaking comedic talent. This year will also host performances from…

It’s looking like March will be the ideal time for Aussies and international visitors to head along to Canberra, which was recently – to a lot of shock and curiosity – named one of the world’s top ten cities to visit in 2018 by Lonely Planet. Why? Well two our Canberra’s best events are on…

The Book of Mormon have kicked off a $40 ticket ballot, that will give you the chance to score cheap-as tickets to every show of the world-class musical. The limited number of tickets will be sold by ballot before each performance at the Sydney Lyric Theatre. To get your hands on on a ticket or…

Usually a magician likes to keep his tricks a secret for obvious reasons. But jden redden is no ordinary magician. Part of the Adelaide Fringe, over the course of an hour, jden performs card tricks and then explains how they are performed. The audience is led upstairs at La Boheme Theatre and sits around a…

Hand To God has become one of Broadway’s classic comedies with two Tony Awards under its belt. Now Australian audiences have the opportunity to broaden their theatrical minds with a play that has no boundaries. I don’t think you’ll fully understand what the show is about until you immerse yourself into the crass and messed up…

When news first broke of Beautiful: The Carole King Musical making its way to Australia, the buzz was high. But who would play the coveted role of Carole King? In what has to be one of the best casting triumphs in Australian musical theatre history, Esther Hannaford was the prized winner. It’s safe to say…

Jane Ferrari (normally known as just “Ferrari”) spent 30 years in the Australian wine industry, brand building and promoting wine both locally and abroad. Her show Unlimited Kilometres is a tribute to the people and places she’s met and been to along the way. Opening night at the Kentish Wine Shed was filled to the…

Aphrodite’s Voodoo showcases chanteuse Jennifer DeGrassi with her live band and some special guests. Set in the beautiful Royal Croquet Club on the northern banks of the River Torrens, the Plaza Parlour tent is an intimate Bedouin style space that is perfect for the dark and mysterious journey to come. The voice of Anais Nin…

Young filmmaker Naor is driving with his mother. Along the way, he tells his mother of his time in Tel Aviv, abandoned after a mandatory evacuation. Staying behind with his girlfriend Yaël, and his grandfather, Naor encounters a new side to his beloved city. As the bombs fall, the trio begin to make a film,…

Nothing is as reaffirming for a creative team as being brought back by popular demand twice! The ever-evolving, devilish and wicked Bedlam Cabaret is getting it’s spotlight at this year’s Mardis Gras – celebrating all things Sydney, all things LGBTQI and all things vaudeville! The dynamic duo behind this roving rainbow wonder fest Director Goldele…

This year’s Adelaide Fringe festival is in full swing, and we’ve scooped together the five shows and events not to miss! Comedy: Wil Anderson – Wilegal  He had sell out shows in 2017 across the world, and this year, Wil Anderson, the host of ABC Tv’s Gruen, returns to entertain audiences with his stand up…

The Talents of Darkness is billed as an “unforgettable experience of the unusual” and it lives up to that name. Hosted by drag queen Bebe Tricx, the show is a collection of short acts from five diverse performers. Bebe Tricx begins by inviting an audience member on stage to break a light globe and then…

The Chinese restaurant is a bastion of our urban culture. Birthdays in the suburbs spent with red lanterns, lazy susans and honey chicken dot our collective memory. While contemporary Australia’s lust for foodie culture and an ever refining palette may have moved away from the Red/Golden Phoenix/Centuries in the 00s, they still form culinary centres…

The Sydney Opera House have released details on the much anticipated UnWrapped series, a biannual season featuring acclaimed work by new and established artists. Unwrapped will take place in May and August each year, and be the centre stage for the Opera House’s new Artist & Sector Development initiative that aims to support emerging and…

In Muriel’s Wedding, Muriel wishes that her life was as good as an ABBA song. Presumably, that life looks a lot like Mamma Mia – a glittering Greek Island paradise where beautiful young men and women burst into song and dance at the drop of a hat, fall in love, have a wedding and live…

A word of warning; if you have a phobia or are allergic to pop corn then Tom Flanagan’s show Kaput is not for you. For everyone else though, read on. Kaput is a show in the mold of the ageless slap-stick style, from comics such as Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton to more modern day…

When I heard that the Australian Museum was hosting a special anti-Valentine’s Day event as part of their Culture Up Late series, I was more than just intrigued – I was excited. I’ve never been someone who buys into the whole commercialisation of Valentine’s Day, having always felt it was an expensive, over the top…

Thursday night marked Grand Opening Night at the Garden of Unearthly Delights with free performances, fireworks and much excitement. The newly installed venue known as The Box showcased  a selection of  artists from The Fun House, magician Kevin Quantum and New York ska trio Too Many Zooz among many others. Let the Adelaide Fringe begin….

Last night, Mamma Mia! The Musical officially kicked off its Sydney season at the Capitol Theatre, holding its gala opening night. Nathan Atkins hit the red carpet: [print_gllr id=11477] ———- This content has recently been ported from its original home on Arts on the AU and may have formatting errors – images may not be…

The screen history of Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland will be showcased as part of Australian Centre for the Moving Image’s (ACMI) newest exhibition, Wonderland. The world premiere that is part of the Victorian Government’s Melbourne Winter Masterpieces series, will delve into Caroll’s three timeless stories of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Through the Looking Glass…

There are some familiar faces in the new touring cast of Mamma Mia!, which opens in Sydney this week. Not only does Alicia Gardiner light up our screens as Kim Akerholt on Offspring, audiences returning to Mamma Mia! may also recognise her. Nearly 20 years ago, Alicia was part of the musical’s Australian premiere cast….

A decade doesn’t seem like very long ago, especially when reminiscing of the very first time I saw this magical production make its debut. Priscilla Queen of the Desert transitioned from screen to stage when the concept of a movie-musical was still quite new, but cut to 2018, and it is almost the norm for the…